Chapter 266 – 26. Only the Strong Survive (6)
Fast and strong It is a skill with a fairly strong reputation. However, it will take several more years of training before the tip of the sword can reach me. Instead of practicing closed-doors confined to a small room, they will be at equal level only when they gain experience in the battlefield full of blood and iron.
At that time, he himself would have risen to a higher level.
Anyway, Kenneth did. The sword he wielded like thunder while wearing heavy armor was impressive, but that was all. If speed battles were the only strength of the Somerset Quicksword, the fame they had so far had been an illusion.
“I wonder.”
Rome said in a puzzled tone. He took to the duel with a relaxed attitude without using his full strength, and harshly criticized the opponent in front of him. Still, I wondered if he was a strong man, but I wanted to have a good fight with the smirk but snobbish baron for a while, but it wasn’t.
“What do you mean…”
“You know.”
The fight is over. Although the side on the defensive expressed their determination not to declare surrender even at the risk of losing their lives, it was useless. Kenneth, who was kneeling on one knee on the dirt floor and breathing heavily, bit his teeth in anger.
“Your sword belongs to someone who has never walked the battlefield.”
It was worth it. The plate armor worn by the captain of the eastern side had been tattered like a rag for a long time. The teeth of the longsword and dagger he were holding with both hands were sorely missing that they could no longer be used as weapons, and his helmet had already been split in half and was lying on the floor.
“It’s perfect technically, but powerless in practice. However, according to the teacher who taught me the sword, Somerset’s quick sword is not just a quick trick. But why can’t I find that sharpness in you?”
The struggle is virtual, but the skills are lacking. Kenneth was a man who could not be matched by rumors. Moreover, what I did not understand the most was that the gender of the man here was very different from what he had been told by his master.
“The answer seems surprisingly simple.”
“Useless speculation, Mara…”
“Because you’re not real?”
The half-down giant tree wriggled. It was proof that he had been hit hard. With a complicated expression on his face, Rom put the dagger he was holding into his bosom. With tens of thousands of people watching, the conclusion of the desperate struggle, which took a lot of stake, was put on hold for a while and the conversation continued.
“Because I was wearing armor all over my body, I thought it would just be a bit of a physique. But after taking off your helmet, there are things you should never show. You know that I’m not talking about appearance, so let’s get over each other.”
“How can you, a stranger in a foreign country, know that? Who the hell is that teacher… !”
“Swell.”
“A traitor?”
The hot Kenneth struggled to get himself up. In the west of the continent, many names will be mentioned as masters, even if it is limited to martial arts, but there is only one person called by such a nickname in the Somerset Swordsman’s Guild.
Oliver Somerset!
The avenger of Evangeline, who surpassed the master called the master of the same school, and the man who came back despite being stabbed in a raid and held a duel trial like today and regained his place.
“She’s a woman in Somerset. According to what I’ve heard, he may look fierce, but he’s not going to be someone with impressive sideburns like me.”
“Ha, indeed, it is like a worm that betrayed and usurped the union. My only regret is that I can no longer live to retaliate against him.”
“With skills like that, it wouldn’t be possible to wake up from death.”
I wasn’t being sarcastic. Although the fake Kenneth’s skill here is outstanding, it was impossible to go crazy with the great man who trained the invincible knight of Lumiere. If it’s just a demonstration of the technology as I commented earlier, the gap will not be narrowed unless there is a lack of practical experience.
“He is the enemy who killed his teacher. It is a law that has meaning in practice before considering whether it can be achieved.”
“Your words are known to the world as a quick sword…”
“Yes, he is dead. After conceived the child of her lover who would become her husband in the future, she worked hard to save him, but eventually met a miserable end. We were destined to die countless times by the sword of the renegade who taught you, and we were kicked out.”
Even though the weather wasn’t too hot, he stood tall, sweating profusely. As you can see just by looking at the armor that has already become rags, the gigantic knight was completely bruised. Although he seemed fine on the outside, the skin hidden under his clothes was bruised.
“It was bravery that brought us back like that. Even though he seems to have everything, he is a benefactor who worked hard to endure a miserable life. Unfortunately, even though you were betrayed by that Madame LeBlanc who stood up for you.”
“Was it a bluff to inflate your power by daring to claim the quicksword?”
“I just needed a focal point to bring the scattered apprentices together. Fortunately, my teacher was not well known to the public, so it was easy to impersonate. Moreover, the position of the next instructor of the quick sword school was destined to be mine.”
Rome nodded as if he understood. But, on the other hand, there were questions that were not resolved. When you want to hide something, the most effective way is to cover it with proper truth. In the same vein, the fake that inherited the Somerset quicksword here was still hiding a secret.
“It seems to fit. But a guy who admires quick swords like you wouldn’t have known that skill. She must have considered the possibility that her enemies who killed her might outnumber her.”
A ghostly smile hung over Kenneth’s lips as he called himself. His eyes, filled with determined determination, shimmered in a bizarre way, announcing his comeback. It was a face that felt a sense of liberation because I had thrown away a burden that was very burdensome to me.
“I am Kinard.”
His fake real name is Kinnard Somerset.
“A swordsman called the fire of the province of Britannia Erin.”
As the expression of sokju means, even in an island country, people were born and raised in a land with a different culture. And in his hometown, Kinad literally means a hot, roaring flame.
“The fire of the fire doesn’t have to be that big. The important thing is how much kindling is accumulated.”
“… What are you planning to do?”
“Thanks to that, I bought enough time. The original grudge picture was for Kenneth Somerset to die after a trial by dueling, but that wouldn’t be too bad either.”
Kinnard roared like a beast and charged. He was such a relentless onslaught that he did not look like an opponent who had already fallen to his knees. Wielding two toothed knives like blunt weapons, he pressured Rom and drew the crowd’s attention.
“Fire.”
Its speed was too fast to avoid all the consecutive attacks. He was not cutting with a blade, but swinging like a club, so it was difficult to block. In the end, his tongue licked, and Rom pulled out a dagger and cut deeply into Kinard’s thigh.
“My life.”
Even so, Somerset’s swordsman never stopped. Like my subordinates who were prepared to die, I was injured every time I attacked, but I fixed it right away. After that, he calculated what the best attack he could do with his current condition and went into action.
“Smear and spread.”
The first started with a split artery in the right thigh. Next, the back of the hand holding the dagger was cut, and I tasted the pain of being crushed to the bone. His left shoulder was severed along with a part of his collarbone so that he could not lift the longsword again, and finally his side was torn open enough to show his internal organs.
“Until everything in this world is burned!”
Not dead. It only made it more painful. The swordsman, who did not care at all whether he was alive or dead, literally burned like a flame. Like cattle in a slaughterhouse, I was about to lie on my back as I was cut and stabbed.
“Look, now you are the villain…”
Kinard was at his limit. But it clearly achieved its purpose. After almost abandoning myself in front of tens of thousands of spectators, the baron’s cruelty was highlighted. In reality, he acknowledged my spirit and confronted me head-on, but what about it?
“My role is done…”
The white-faced people sent fearful gazes. In the meantime, unfamiliar faces wandered around the stadium. Dressed in eastern uniforms, they were the Knights of Somerset. Judging by the tumultuous atmosphere, it seemed like they were about to push in and out.
‘This is what he was aiming for.’
The ignition of Kinard, who claimed to be a quick sword, was successful. In the yard where the winner of the 9th line duel was decided, the atmosphere was flowing strangely. It would have been better to quickly kill the opponent and receive the court’s verdict, but that couldn’t be the case now.
“Look at all the peoples of Gaul!”
From the eastern camp, a gray man with his hair neatly tied back walked forward. He was Arnaud LeBlanc, with a short beard and profound features. He was once a war hero who saved this country and a strong man who flavored an era.
“My name is Arnaud LeBlanc! I am the one who put Henrietta Aquitaine on trial and a party to this duel trial! On the inside, he is a husband who lost his mother to a bad wife, and on the outside, he is a helpless man who had no choice but to watch the tearful struggles of the warrior he hired!”
Private soldiers from unknown sources surrounded the temporary arena. Among them, the most skilled were the Somerset Knights, and they were standing by in a position where they could overpower the court bag and guards dispatched from the royal family at any time.
“Royal Arbitration! The weight of the title duke! Family prestige and survival! Cowardly silence! The days when I had to wait and see! It seemed like it would never change! Until some swordsmen with high spirits from the foreign country of Somerset came to fight for me!”
However, what we should be wary of more than anything else is the brave attack approaching the battlefield holding the sword of chastity.
“Here, Kenneth the Quicksword and ninety-nine knights! It’s a trial that could even threaten their own safety if they did something wrong! They gladly contributed! How can I not feel ashamed for being afraid of an unfair world and hiding the truth and only seeking my own comfort!”
Spirit was flowing through his body. Even though Kinnard was by no means a weak swordsman who deserved to be disparaged, it was certainly different. Contrary to his always detached appearance, stricken with depression, at this moment, Yongmaenggong was showing off his spirit befitting his nickname.
“Renoir court bag! Accordingly, I formally request a second trial of Henrietta Aquitaine from the royal family! Following the charge of assassinating my deceased mother, Juliette LeBlanc! For the crime of plotting to kill me long ago and devour my entire family!”
“Yo, brave man! How can you do that without consulting!”
“I declare that I will challenge Romuald, Baron of Ardennes, to a duel trial on the execution of Henrietta Aquitaine!”
It was a series of battles for Rome. The burden was bound to be great. So, originally, Arno’s challenge should have been seen as a cowardly opportunistic act.
The problem was that Kinnard had changed the tide by risking his life.
East became the hero and North became the villain. I can’t even count how many times I’ve been tossing and turning. It was a breathtaking feeling, as if riding a single rope on top of a far-off cliff.
‘This is the turning point.’
Finally, Rom’s expression went as cold as ice. He tossed away the toy-like dagger and calmly breathed in the air. Then he spat out loudly, recalling a sensation he had long forgotten.
The man who used to be Dior and Chaucer wrote a myth to protect his family.
Nothing different this time. The Duchess, restrained on a podium, is a woman as tender as a young girl, even if she pretends to be calm. So what I had to do was clear.
“Romuald Arden, Baron of the Northern Territory, agrees with you! As the Duke of Valor insisted, that Duchess Henrietta is a criminal! But I have no intention of digging into her misdeeds in her life, nor of discussing her right or wrong!”
Protect Henrietta.
“According to the strict Gallic tradition, rights and responsibilities always go hand in hand! So there is nothing wrong with that poor woman! Regardless of her wife and concubine, it is her duty to pay for her wife’s crimes!”
Give her all for her
“Manmin! With the blessing of Her Majesty Alphonse de Gaullia, Henrietta LeBlanc solemnly declares that she is the concubine of Romuald Ardennes! Also, according to this, I will accept her charges and pay for her sins by ransoming her!”
Regardless of means or method.
“Regardless of the winner or the loser, I urge that only this Romuald Ardenn be punished for the crime! I will immediately demand pardon for my concubine and challenge you according to the honor and traditions of the Kingdom of Gaul!”
Only protect
“Arnaud LeBlanc, Kenneth Somerset, and ninety-nine brave knights!”
Even if yes
“The invincible knight of Lumière challenges you to a one-on-one duel… !”
Even if you have to fight against the Holo Bag.
